Mbappé And Yamal Bring The Semifinal Heat To Dallas
Mark your calendars on us: the FIFA World Cup 2026 semifinals begin Tuesday, July 14, with France vs. Spain at Dallas Stadium / AT&T Stadium in Arlington.
This is the only World Cup match on today’s schedule, and it comes with enough star power to fill the entire bracket by itself. Kylian Mbappé and France are chasing a third straight World Cup final, while Lamine Yamal and Spain are back in the semifinals for the first time since winning the tournament in 2010.
France arrives unbeaten with one of the tournament’s most dangerous attacks. Spain arrives with a defense that has conceded only once and a habit of finding late winners when the bracket starts tightening. In other words: Dallas gets speed, control, history and the possibility of 90 minutes turning into a full international incident.
Because INYIM has world watchers, we are listing kickoff times across PT, ET, UTC, UK time and Central Europe time. U.S. viewers can watch on FOX or stream through FOX One / FOX Sports in English. Spanish-language coverage is available through Telemundo and Peacock, depending on platform access.
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One semifinal. One final ticket.
Check the official bracket, then grab match-day essentials before France and Spain take over Dallas.
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Today’s FIFA World Cup 2026 match schedule.
Here is the Tuesday, July 14 semifinal with compact global kickoff times for easier planning.
How to watch France vs. Spain today.
France vs. Spain kicks off at 12 p.m. PT / 3 p.m. ET on Tuesday, July 14. English-language coverage is on FOX, with streaming through FOX One and FOX Sports. Spanish-language coverage is available through Telemundo and Peacock.
There is no second World Cup match competing for attention today, so this semifinal gets the full stage. The winner advances to Sunday’s final against either England or Argentina, who meet Wednesday in Atlanta.
Quick knockout note: if France and Spain are level after regulation, the match goes to extra time and then penalties if needed. A semifinal is not the place for emotional stability anyway.
France brings force. Spain brings control.
France has powered through the tournament with an attack built around Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé and a squad that looks comfortable turning one small opening into a full scoreboard problem. The deeper story is the group itself: players have described a team that studies matches together away from formal meetings, building the kind of trust that becomes very useful when a semifinal starts getting strange.
Spain’s path has looked different. La Roja has controlled space, protected its goal and found decisive moments through a deep midfield and an attack that can change shape without asking permission. Mikel Merino delivered the late quarterfinal winner against Belgium, while Yamal remains the player most likely to turn one quiet possession into everybody leaning toward the screen.
France vs. Spain carries history beyond the bracket.
For two countries with this much football history, France and Spain have met only once at the World Cup. France won that 2006 Round of 16 match 3-1, with Franck Ribéry, Patrick Vieira and Zinedine Zidane overturning Spain’s early lead.
The more recent rivalry belongs to Spain. It beat France in the Euro 2024 semifinal and again in a wild 2025 Nations League semifinal. France insists there is respect without fear. Spain knows it has recent proof. Dallas gets to decide which version matters now.
What happens after France vs. Spain?
The winner advances to the FIFA World Cup 2026 final on Sunday, July 19, against the winner of England vs. Argentina. The losing semifinalist moves to the third-place match on Saturday, July 18.
So yes, July 14 belongs to France and Spain. Mbappé, Yamal, Dallas and one final ticket all land on the same afternoon. The rest of the tournament can wait until the whistle.
Scenes From Spain Training Before France
A visual look at Spain training before the France semifinal, as La Roja prepares for its biggest World Cup test yet.
Watch Spain Train Before Facing France
The embedded training video shows Spain’s final preparation before the World Cup semifinal against France in Dallas.
Sources: FIFA for the official semifinal date, kickoff time, match number and Dallas Stadium listing; FIFA for match history and preview context; FOX for U.S. English-language television and streaming information; Telemundo for Spanish-language semifinal coverage on Telemundo and Peacock; Reuters for France and Spain team context; Reuters for France’s internal team-unity story; FIFA on YouTube for the Spain training video embedded above.
